How To Make Healthy Desserts

Making desserts that taste great and are healthy need not seem as difficult as it sounds. Many times, we associate desserts with negative things, such as high amounts of fat and sugar - essentially, dessert is seen as the temptation at the end of a meal. That being said, how many times have you felt unsatisfied at the end of a meal, because you were looking for dessert but there was none? There should be no reason why you should feel badly about having dessert. With these following guidelines, you can have your cake, eat it, and not feel guilty about it too.

Fat is a needed element in the human body. The problem is, we consume too much of it, and more often than not, we include excessive amounts of fat in our desserts. Regulate the fat, and you regulate the negative effects. You must also understand that there is both good fat and bad fat. Good fat reduces bad cholesterol in the body, while saturated fat is the bad fat. You can get good fast from protein-rich foods such as tofu or soy products. Nuts are also a good source of this good fat, such as pistachios, almonds, cashews and the like.

Chocolate is one of our sweetest sins. Chocolate is so good, it's even known to relax blood vessels. Dark chocolate is the best. Avoid using milk chocolate or white chocolate in crafting your desserts. Also, use the chocolate sparingly. You will only need a little dark chocolate, due to its rich flavor.

When baking, avoid white flour. Due to the refining process that the flour undergoes, white flour has very little nutritional value. Try using whole-grain flour as a healthy alternative for your baking needs.

Corn syrup, which is high in fructose, is the most popular sweetener for desserts. However, there is no nutritional value in corn syrup, and therefore this is something you should also avoid. For times when you need to sweeten your desserts, there are a number of options you can try as opposed to traditional sugar and corn syrup.

A product derived from sugar, sucralose is a safe, low-calorie alternative for your dessert needs. Sucralose will not break down in baking like Aspartame (Aspartame also loses most of its sweetness when this happens), and has more nutritional value than Saccharin or other artificial sweeteners. The purest and healthiest sweetening alternative, however, is still good old fresh honey.

Fruits are the best for sweetening your dessert concoctions. Desserts that include fruits in the process will taste great and are healthier than others. Fruits are very rich in Fructose - try to create desserts that have both fruits and nuts or other protein-rich foods to prevent high blood sugar. Fruits also have their own individual benefits, rich in vitamins and anti-oxidants that are good for your body.

Keep these items in mind when planning your next meal. You definitely won't feel guilty about ending the perfect meal with the perfect dessert.